Latest news with #SentencingandCourtsAct2022
The Guardian
02-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
We fought and beat the government in the courts because every Briton has the right to protest
When we beat the Conservative government over its anti-democratic protest laws in court last year, we thought that would be the end of the story. Judges in the high court had made it very clear that laws that gave the police almost unlimited powers to crack down on any protest that caused 'more than minor' disruption were unlawful. It ordered that the laws should be scrapped. We celebrated. Given that the incoming Labour government had voted down these very same laws a year earlier, we believed that protest would be taken out of the culture wars arena and put back into the sacred space of fundamental rights. Yet Labour dragged us back to court, in a misguided attempt to be seen to look tough on public order. And now today, on a day of much Labour soul-searching, we've won again. A unanimous court of appeal victory that, alongside chastening election results, must now trigger a total Labour rethink on how we treat protesters in this country. Five different judges over two separate hearings have made it clear: these anti-protest laws were a flagrant abuse of power and quite simply should never have existed. Ministers cannot step outside the law to do whatever they want to shut down causes they don't agree with. These laws we defeated today were introduced in a toxic climate. The previous government made it its mission to stifle protest movements it didn't like. Even when this regulation itself was created, the Conservative government specifically named climate protesters as those they were targeting, even though the change in law impacted everybody. This is a dangerous way to do politics, and has led to hundreds of protesters being wrongly arrested under a law that should never have been created in the first place. Whether or not you agree with a protest cause – environmental justice, Palestine solidarity, farmers' inheritance tax, the closure of your local library – laws that chip away at protest do damage to them all. The 'more than minor' regulations are just one of many laws the last Conservative government created that narrowed the space for protest in this country. In the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, laws were created that were so broad that a protest could be shut down for simply being too 'noisy'. In 2023, the Conservative government's Public Order Act went even further, and brought in powers that have led to arrests for carrying any material that might be used to lock on, a common tactic used throughout history (such as by the Suffragettes), even if an act of protest has not happened yet. Things have shifted so much that we're now in the farcical situation in which protesters in many cases are now unable to tell a judge about why they protested in the first place. These laws are far reaching and have real consequences. A record number of protesters spent last Christmas in prison because of anti-protest laws. Journalists have been wrongly caught up covering protests and wrongfully held in custody because police assumed they were protesters. This is unsustainable, and is damaging the basic principles of our free speech and democracy in this country. And the assault continues. Going through parliament right now is a proposal to ban the use of face coverings at protests – a plan Labour has copied almost word for word from a bill the Conservatives introduced last year. What message does this send to those who rely on face masks to protest safely, such as Hong Kong dissidents who want to protest outside the Chinese embassy, or disabled activists protesting cuts in their benefits? Today's ruling shows that the previous government's approach was wrong – and now the Labour government must learn from its predecessors' mistakes and change tack. This should serve as a wake-up call for Labour. It must accept this ruling and scrap the laws for good. We now urgently need a review of all the hundreds of arrests that happened under this law. And we need a complete review of all protest legislation that was made over the past few years. Quite simply, we need a new approach. Protesting brought us votes for women, the right to a weekend and Pride. Surely, that alone is reason enough to stop playing politics with the right to protest, and get back to being a country that is serious about protecting democratic freedoms. Akiko Hart is the director of the human rights organisation Liberty
The Guardian
01-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Questions raised by Met police raid on Quaker meeting house
I represent a non-Quaker spiritual group with a longstanding arrangement to meet twice a week at the Westminster Quaker meeting house in London, from which building six female members of a youth protest group were recently arrested by means of violent forced entry (Report, 30 March). A symptom often felt by people who are burgled is that their personal space has been invaded. When those who commit violence are those whose role is to protect us, it is doubly shattering. We were not present when the forced entry took place, yet the manner of it leaves us with a feeling of devastation and destruction of so much of what we have created. Of course it will be argued that the invasion of the space was a necessary evil, but I have to state with force that what we now suffer is real hurt, whereas the prevention of resistance in London is harm as yet not done. While I have plenty of sympathy with the impossible, and quite likely painful, decision made by the police, places of real quiet and sanctuary are deeply needed in our society, and their invasion cannot be passed off as a necessary evil. Violence is violence, whoever commits it, and there is real loss here, real suffering, and real HaywardBarnes, London The fact that I am in the House of Lords is undoubtedly linked to attending a Quaker school for seven years, where the notions of public service, non-violence and a belief in community were a paramount theme running through school life and lessons. Quakers have been at the forefront of many radical changes for the better, such as abolition of slavery and prison reform. The Youth Demand members who were the subject of a police raid continue a tradition. This Labour government must not continue down the repressive route of the last government. We must take the opportunity to roll back the excesses of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023. Sue MillerLiberal Democrat, House of Lords I suggest that Youth Demand hold their next meeting in Canterbury Cathedral. The optics of the agents of the crown forcing their way into that place of worship might be too much, even in these benighted CameronEdinburgh Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
The Guardian
29-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Met raids Quaker meeting house and arrests six women at Youth Demand talk
Police have raided a Quaker meeting house and arrested six women attending a gathering of the protest group Youth Demand. More than 20 uniformed police, some equipped with Tasers, forced their way into the Westminster meeting house at 7.15pm, according to a statement by the Quakers. 'No one has been arrested in a Quaker meeting house in living memory,' said Paul Parker, the recording clerk for Quakers in Britain. 'This aggressive violation of our place of worship and the forceful removal of young people holding a protest group meeting clearly shows what happens when a society criminalises protest. 'Freedom of speech, assembly, and fair trials are an essential part of free public debate which underpins democracy.' In a video posted on Youth Demand's Facebook page, a woman who claimed to have attended the meeting described it as a 'publicly advertised welcome talk' about the group. She said police seized attenders' phones and laptops. Youth Demand describes itself as 'a youth-led nonviolent civil resistance campaign demanding the UK stops arming Israel and cancels all new oil and gas granted since 2021'. The Quakers' statement said they 'strongly condemned the violation of their place of worship' and pointed to the stricter protesting laws brought in by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the Public Order Act 2023, which they claimed were directly responsible for the raid. The Met police said it had arrested six people at the meeting on suspicion of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance. It said it arrested five other people for the same offence on Friday – four in London and one in Exeter. The police said those arrested were part of Youth Demand and claimed those attending the meeting were planning direct action in the capital next month. 'Youth Demand have stated an intention to 'shut down' London over the month of April using tactics including 'swarming' and road blocks,' police said. 'While we absolutely recognise the importance of the right to protest, we have a responsibility to intervene to prevent activity that crosses the line from protest into serious disruption and other criminality.' Police said all those arrested had been released on bail, except for one who was released and will face no further action. Quakers, a nickname for members of the Religious Society of Friends, follow a religious tradition that grew from Protestant Christianity in the 17th century. Quakers have a long history of supporting protest movements and nonviolence is one of their core beliefs.
